U.S. Senators Urged to Act on Bill to Preserve Future of Indian Gaming
in Arizona

H.R. 1410 will uphold current compacts, the will of the voters and
tribal commitments

July 23, 2014 05:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Congress has the power to intervene in a growing national practice and
problem of ‘off-reservation gaming,’ or ‘reservation-shopping.’ The
topic was at the heart of an oversight hearing before the U.S. Senate
Committee on Indian Affairs today, titled, “Indian Gaming: The Next 25
Years,” and included discussion of H.R. 1410—the bi-partisan bill to
solve the problem faced by the city of Glendale in Arizona, that will
protect the integrity of Indian Gaming in the state, but would also be a
beacon to cities and towns across the U.S. that find themselves in
similar circumstances.

A prelude to a vote on H.R. 1410 by the U.S. Senate, today’s hearing
included testimony from Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
(SRPMIC) President, Diane Enos and City of Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers,
excerpts from their testimony follow, full transcripts can be found at www.indian.senate.gov.

SRPMIC President, Diane Enos opened her remarks, by saying, “For over 20
years Arizona Indian Gaming has been stable, predictable, and
successful. However, sadly, its future in Arizona does not look good. It
is threatened by the actions of one tribe. H.R. 1410, the ''Keep the
Promise Act,'' which is pending before the Committee, will help protect
Indian gaming in Arizona. We respectfully urge the Committee to pass it.”

SRPMIC President explained to the Senators that private non-Indian
gaming companies were always hovering over Arizona looking for an
opportunity, a loophole, to overthrow Indian Gaming exclusivity, but
that today, that exclusivity, and the current Indian Gaming compacts
were jeopardized from within, by the Tohono O’odham Nation:

“This plan by the Tohono O’odham of building an additional casino in the
Phoenix-metro area directly violates promises that they made, that other
Arizona tribes made, and that the Governor of Arizona made to citizens
who approved our compacts in November 2002,” stated Enos. In 2002,
then-Governor Jane D. Hull announced that the compacts she and 17 tribes
had negotiated for two and a half years - if approved by the voters –
would ensure there would be “no additional casinos allowed in the
Phoenix metropolitan area”. This promise of “no additional casinos
in the Phoenix-metro area” was made by Tribes and the Governor over and
over to the voters, Enos said, “because we believed it.”

City of Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers addressed the powerlessness of local
government in this situation, saying, “Our choice was not ideal:
continue to fight and hope for action from this body, or give in to this
casino being forced on us. It is frustrating to be a city of our size
and have no voice on a casino proposed by a tribal government more than
a hundred miles away.”

Weiers also spoke up about what this means for other cities, “Our sister
cities know that unless Congress acts, they may be next. There are over
200 other county islands in the Phoenix metropolitan area. And the
Tohono O’odham Nation attorneys have said the Tribe has the right to
close its existing three casinos and open them on these county islands.
We are a test case, but it is the start of a very slippery slope. If
Congress does not act, the entire Phoenix area should be prepared for more
off-reservation casinos.”